Chapter 25: Chapter 25: ’Medical Waste
Yanluo Middle-aged and Elderly Health Care Company was a business that specialized in producing health supplements.
The term "health supplements" didn’t exactly sound high-class. In fact, it was usually associated with scams.
But in reality, it was an insanely profitable industry.
The primary target markets were the elderly and the sick.
From a business perspective, these two groups shared a desirable trait: they were... ’sufficiently impulsive!’
Thus, with just a little persuasion, you could sell them dirt-cheap health supplements at a high price.
As for the supplements themselves...
Companies in this industry operated by an unwritten rule, a rule that determined what made a good health supplement.
And what was that standard?
As long as it didn’t kill you!
That’s right. A good health supplement wasn’t one that was effective. As long as it was non-lethal, it was a good health supplement.
Take that one supplement that would become a bestseller in a few years, the go-to gift for the New Year holiday.
To put it bluntly, it was just a digestive aid mixed with a sleep aid. For the elderly, its effects were simple: they ate well and slept well.
Think about it. A pill that was just a digestive aid and a sleep aid. The production cost was negligible, but with a different name, it could be sold for hundreds...
Insanely profitable!
Absolutely, insanely profitable!
But the Yanluo Middle-aged and Elderly Health Care Company was different.
Somehow, they were actually losing money selling this stuff.
’A company of this size just needs to develop a few downlines. It shouldn’t be like this.’
Inside the factory grounds, Xu Huo watched the distant workshop gradually light up as he slowly started walking.
’This stuff has no R&D cost, it’s cheap, and you don’t need highly skilled technicians.’
’If you use a pyramid scheme model, especially in an era with such a high rate of illiteracy, you might not be raking in money hand over fist, but you at least shouldn’t be losing money!’
What was the pyramid scheme model?
Put simply, it was taking people’s money and then implanting the firm belief in their minds that they could get rich doing this.
It was illegal.
However, there was another method that was legal, but immoral.
For example.
You buy a large quantity of off-brand shampoo. Then you find three people and sell them on the idea that they can make money with it. Those three then become your downline, paying you to buy the shampoo to sell themselves.
After that, those three find new people to buy from them, convincing them to sell it. If they each find three people, that’s nine more.
This new group of nine then goes on to recruit their own downlines.
In the end, the last batch of recruits become the suckers, spending a huge amount of money on a pile of useless shampoo to hawk on the roadside or door-to-door.
The reality is more complicated, but that’s the general idea.
The most common suckers include stay-at-home moms and recent college graduates...
This isn’t illegal, but it’s immoral. It’s essentially using information disparity, psychology, and deception to fool people.
You could also just call it scamming idiots.
’Unless that wasn’t their goal.’
’So...’
’There must be another location!’
Staring at the factory just ahead, Xu Huo took a deep breath.
The factory looked like a normal workplace. The exterior was a large workshop shed with a huge main entrance made entirely of corrugated iron.
Xu Huo reached out a hand, and in the next second...
RUMBLE!
The roller door was pulled open.
A wall of darkness appeared before them. In an instant, the factory became a monster with its mouth agape, silently waiting for them to fall into its maw.
CLICK!
Li Jianye flipped on the lights. The bulbs inside flickered twice before flaring to life, revealing all sorts of equipment and machinery that had been hidden in the dark.
The interior was packed with instruments, a veritable lair of steel beasts.
At a glance, it all seemed related to the pharmaceutical industry, but...
Xu Huo and Li Jianye both paused, then silently walked deeper inside.
CLOMP... CLOMP... CLOMP...
The dull sound of their footsteps echoed through the empty factory shed, until...
"What’s this?"
Zhao Shui had stopped in front of what looked like a cutting machine, a puzzled expression on his face as he stared at the object in his hands.
He was holding a plaque. At its center were three pieces of a jade-like material fitted together.
The edges of the three pieces were serrated, yet they interlocked perfectly, the seam between them forming the shape of the Chinese character for "human" (人).
Besides that, there was a bowl that looked like some kind of handicraft.
Zhao Shui felt like he had seen it somewhere before. He frowned, and as he kept looking, his expression suddenly turned to one of utter shock.
"Wait a second..."
"A Kapala, which means an item made from a skull. There should still be quite a few of these in the western part of the country."
Xu Huo spoke after a quick glance.
The "human" character plaque wasn’t made of some rare jade.
It was bone.
So was the bowl. As for its purpose...
It was a bowl. What else could it be for? Eating, of course. For ritual use—to feed the gods.
In ancient times, they were also presented to rulers. Whether those rulers actually ate from skulls is unknown.
In addition, there was some leather, a few bags, human skeletal models, and several ’masks’...
Xu Huo looked on in silence, until...
A voice came from beside him.
"Trapdoor."
Li Jianye had stopped. He stood to one side, stomped on the floor, and looked around for a moment but couldn’t find an opening mechanism. He waved over a few police officers and then slowly backed away.
The three officers tensed their thighs, muscles bulging. The next second, immense force slammed into the floor panel!
BANG!
The door burst open with a crack, creating a gap.
And the very moment that gap appeared, a bone-chilling aura swirled around them.
Li Jianye’s face tightened. Without a hint of hesitation, he pulled out his flashlight and led his men down.
What was inside?
Nobody knew. No one could see clearly.
All they saw was a wall—a wall hidden in the shadows, emitting a faint, putrid smell. And this wall was...
Soft.
CLICK!
The flashlight beam swept over it.
In that instant, everyone froze in place, their minds and bodies stunned.
The next second, Zhao Shui, a veteran detective with nearly ten years on the force, felt his face contort as a wave of utter revulsion, surging from the deepest part of his being, rose in his throat.
He forced his body to move, bolting toward the exit.
"BLECH!!!"
...
...
"Haaa..."
Li Jianye smoked his cigarette. He walked out of the factory and looked up at the twinkling stars in the sky.
They had found the body disposal site. It was underground, in a cellar-like space that had been converted into a crude cold storage unit.
To be honest, Li Jianye knew criminals were bold—so bold they were devoid of humanity, the absolute lowest of the low.
But he never expected...
That their bottom line could be this low.
What had they found?
Setting aside the bodies of those who had died from natural causes, Li Jianye also discovered something that had been denied its very humanity.
Medical waste.
That’s right. Down there was medical waste—obstetrical medical waste.
It was smaller than a forearm, just tossed there. No one knew what it had been used for.
"Health supplements that don’t give health... Heh."
Xu Huo walked out of the factory and turned back for one last look, a sneer gracing his lips.
A health supplement factory that gave the living a false hope of survival...
Was secretly engaged in dealings with the dead.
The irony was palpable.
As for what other cases this factory would end up being connected to...
If nothing else, Li Jianye was certain that Chu Linhai would continue to pursue the investigation.
As for the killer...
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